Glochid Free Gelato is on the way!

What are glochids you might ask?  They are also known as "the pricklys" on cacti.  Why is this blog post about cacti you might ask?  Because my friends, we will soon be having cacti sorbetto.  To my wonderment, I discovered a box of prickly pear cacti fruit that had just arrived from the warehouse at work this morning.  To those of you who are unaware that cacti fruit exists or that it is edible, let me tell you this: it exists and it is edible and there is a boxful of angry prickly cacti fruit ready to be magically transformed into wonderfully cool, happy, and smooth sorbetto this week at Capogiro on 13th street.  Keep your eyes peeled because these sexy little mexican fruits can be having a fiesta in your mouth very soon.  Finally a way to enjoy cacti without getting pricked.

This is how the cactus looks in the basement, with the prickles:

This is how it will look in your mouth, minus the prickles:

-Tori

photocredz:

http://wallpapers.net/view/sparkling_ice_cubes-1280x800.html

http://universalscrapbook.com/Logos/Show_Logo.aspx?Logo_Id=1064

http://stephenneary.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html

What's in a name?

My absolute most favorite thing to do while opening the store is picking the daily flavor combo. It's like, oh we got fig? Rad. And I always dig the stracciatella. Boom. That's my pairing of choice for today. 

Not to mention, scrawling it out is a wannabe letterist's dream. Just two tasty words practically write themselves on the a-frame.

What're some of your favorite combos?









This Sunday noon-5pm there will be a car show on Passyunk Ave. with wild cars, activities, live blues and doo wop.  I'm anticipating our lil scoop shop on the ave to get into a rockabilly (perhaps even some psychobilly..) jive.. ; )

xo

Vieni a trovarci, Anthony Bourdain!

Oh, hey. Hey, Tony. We heard this little rumor that you were in Philadelphia today. You know what would be super great? If you just so happened to stop into Capogiro for some gelato. Or perhaps an espresso. I think we would make great pals. You like traveling the world on someone else's dime, we would like to do that too! You love to drink great kinds of alcohol, well we could hang out together in fancy European bars. You like judging people and making snarky comments about everything, so do we! You like street food, we LOVE to serve folks at bazaars and night markets. Most of all, you love when people give a damn about using only the best fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients and love what they do when it comes to food. Well sir, I implore you, come on down and visit. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship....

Will the creator of gelato please stand up?

Whilst staring musingly into the gelato case during my eight hour shift at 13th street Capogiro last sunday, I thought dramatically to myself, "Why are we all here on this earth, and from which heaven did gelato descend to make life on this earth more bearable?!" At this point in my shift, the triple shot of espresso had taken hold and my mind began racing with question upon question about where gelato really came from.  I resolved to pursue these questions after my shift was over with the help of a grande blackberry and mango sorbetto by my side.  To google we went.

Now Capogiro is run as a traditional italian bar (a bar in italy is not necessarily a place to buy alcohol and get drunk, it's more of a cafe) but I discovered that the Italians were not the only ones in history to create healthy frozen treats.  In Egypt, ice served with fruit juice was presented to honored guests by the Pharoahs.  One of the main problems, with early gelato concoctions was that snow had to be available because in the early ages the secret of making ice was mother nature's alone.  Many of the early gelato crafters had to migrate from season to season in order to find the snow that made their craft possible. This made gelato a pleasure to only be enjoyed by the rich.

The rich were all obsessed with this frozen delicacy.  Italy always seemed to have the best of the frozen treats.  FLorence born Caterina de' Medici married Henry II of France and brought Giuseppe Ruggeri, a sorbetto maker, with her to challenge the cooks of France.  Ruggeri's treat was so good that all of the french cooks hated him and would even violently attack him. There are many reports of contests between regions and countries to make the best frozen treats.

As time went on and technology improved, people began improvising incredible ways to make frozen treats.  For example, during the second world war, pilots positioned ingredients in the plane in such a way that the vibration from the plane and the freezing air would automaitcally make ice cream.  Luckily, we here at Capogiro don't have to resort to planes to make our gelato.  The founders of the company have traveled the world to hone their methods to create what could be the greatest gelato to ever exist!! 

For a more comprehensive and satisfying answer to the history of gelato, check out my sources!!

www.gelatospecialists.com/HISTORY%20OF%20GELATO.pdf
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelato
www.mypaesano.com/dining_in_italy/history_of_gelato.htm

~Tori

Too awesome to have a name yet.

So, we're CapoPenn, right? We're the ones way out there on the bleedin' edge of booze+gelato creations. I mean yeah, all the Capogiros are featuring Bluecoat Gin+Blueberry sorbetto right now, which is plenty awesome.

 But us? We're the cool kids that bring the booze to the party. Well..ok, we can't really bring the booze TO the party. PLCB, they're not especially flexible. Rules, and laws, and whatnot. But if YOU come to US, we've got all the adult-oriented gelato-tainment you can handle, and now we're working on something new. So new we haven't even really come up with a proper name for them! But you've had our frappes, and you know how important a walkin-around frappe can be when it's been a gerjillion degrees (except for today! Who knew?! 1:30 in the afternoon and it's only 78 degrees. IT'S A COLD SNAP, MA. FETCH MY MITTENS, I GOTTA BRING IN THE COWS A'FORE THEY FREEZE.).

RIGHT, back to the frappes. Have you ever found yourself drinking a Thai Coconut Milk frappe and thought to yourself that...maybe it could be even better? Coconut...what goes well with coconut...OH RIGHT. RUM. Yeah, man. Little rum spun into your frappe and you're living on the right side o' life, my friend. I like dark rum with the coconut myself, though there's a fair contingent of the staff who thinks that white rum is the way to be...takes all types, of course. Not everyone's palate is as exceptionally refined as mine.

Stracciatella with a little creme de menthe? Heck yeah, that's a big kid's mint chocolate chip milkshake right there. Dulce de Leche with a little bourbon? Like a whiskey-infused caramel. I could go on. But come on in and talk to one of our bartenders. We'll find you some right tasty combinations. Seriously: adult milkshakes. They're time has come. And that time is now. And it's Capogiro Time.

 

Celebrity Sightings at 20th Street

Capogiro has always attracted an A-List crowd (I'm talking about you, Michelle Obama), and recently we've had a couple more celebrity sightings at 20th Street. Actress Carla Gugino (of Sin City and Watchmen fame) was in a few weeks ago inquiring about sorbetto. She is working on a new show with Sigourney Weaver, whom Capogiro got to serve gelato to at a special event!

However, as big as these names are, it was a small-time actor that got the baristi at 20th Street in a tizzy. A large group of friends came in the other Friday night and the 20th Street staff couldn't help but stare at one guy. It was Rufio from the Robin Williams' movie Hook, all grown up! Yes, gen-Yers, Dante Basco was in Capogiro eating gelato with his homies. It was all we could do to hold ourselves back from yelling "Bangarang, Ruf-i-oooh!" Barista Joe had the brilliant idea to serve him an empty cup and tell him to imagine there was gelato in it. I did not let him. If you are too young for this movie, I apologize as this probably makes no sense whatsoever to you. However to us, it was a magical night.

A rough start

So today seemed like a nice enough day (though quite hot).  I got to sleep in a little bit today before starting my 4:00pm shift and I left my house early so I could have a relaxed ride in.  Or so I hoped.  I usually shoot straight up 13th St all the way through South Philly and for the most part the ride is typically uneventful and drivers seem to be getting better in regard to bicycles being on the road.  Well some people are just plain rotten for no reason though and today when I made it to Bainbridge I saw a guy walking kind of on the edge of the road and it crossed my mind to watch out for him so I gently steered away from him and as soon as I leveled with him he ran out and tried to kick the bike out from under me.  I was shocked and immediately furious that someone would do something so dangerous to me without any reason whatsoever.  I managed to stay upright and followed him and gave him a right good scare before heading back toward my destination.

Now I'm at work and some coffee and gelato have brought me back down to my normal happier temperament.  It was very nice to see we have Blackberry Gelato (Mora) today and that made me smile right away.  It's one of my favorite summer berry flavors.  And after a rather long hiatus Sea Salt is back and ready for the masses to come mix it up with their favorite chocolate and nutty flavors.  We're in a heat wave people!  Stop by and enjoy the chilly A/C and creamy deliciousness that is Capo13.

PS- Yesterday I received a text from Whitney (see the adorable young lady pictured above) who wanted to let us all know that her surgery went very well and though she's in a bit of pain right now she's very excited to finally be headed towards recovery.  We all wish you a very speedy recovery and can't wait to see your smiling face back in the shop.  Keep on practicing that guitar you'll be awesome in no time. 

We're definitely deep into it now...

So it's for sure summer. I always know when there's a particular slant of light in the morning and a specific tone to the bugs' buzzing in the trees. Most of the eastern US has a similar sound this time of year, from West Virginia to Vermont to Philadelphia and Delaware. Which makes me surprisingly nostalgic, actually! Got a text from my sister the other night that my niece wouldn't go to bed yet--too busy rocking out to a They Might Be Giants cd. I responded with something like "yeah, and it's only 8:15! The sun's still up, of course she doesn't want to go to bed!" Summer. Am I the only one that feels more in touch with their inner four-year-old in July and August?

So we're definitely rolling in wicked good fruit. All your neighborhood Capogiros are going to feature the Bluecoat Gin and Blueberry sorbetto all through July, both as a shout-out to Fair Food Philly because they're our kind of people but also because, while we'll tell you that we have many favorite flavors, the Bluecoat&Blueberry really, really is one of them. So good. You know us, we like our berries boozy! And the rumors about raspberries are running fast and wild from our Big Kitchen out to our Not-Quite-As-Big Kitchens, and we're pretty excited.

So! Summer. The "new" of this summer has worn off, the gnarliest heat has passed through for the time being...these are the good times.

Gelato-lympics!

Come one, come all, to witness the international celebration all the kids can enjoy; the Capogiro Gelato-lympics! Events this year will involve our talented baristi competing in numerous feats of strength and athleticism. The categories include, but are not limited to;

Gelato Scoop One-legged Relay Race!

Pin the Tail on the Espresso Machine!

Sample Roulette!

Mop Kwan Do!

Freestyle Speed Scooping!

Long-distance Affogato Pour!

Scalding-Hot Coffee Swim (Doggie Paddle, really)!

Broomstick Fencing!

and Curling... because I freaking love Curling. It is ridiculous.

A Lovely Day!

What a beautiful summer day!  I spent a good portion of today riding my bike all over town.  Thank god the heat had broken for today because if today was like Saturday I'd probably be a shriveled piece of leather on the side of Chestnut Street.  I went from home to our 40th St. store then all the way back to the S. Philly Best Buy to replaced my frayed and finally dead laptop charger :-(  Then back to 13th St. to sling gelato for the evening.  I was excited to see Sugar Plum Sorbetto was waiting for me upon arrival.  It always makes me think of Christmas and with this heat I'll take any reminder of winter and snow I can get.  Sometimes I can't believe that a place can have such extreme differences in weather from season to season.  All because of a little tilt of the Earth.  I think I might be rambling on a little bit.

John Malkovich looking badass on a sweet wood handled bike.  

I totally looked this awesome on my bike all day....I swear.

If you are a regular at Capo13 then there is a good chance you might know our happy, smiling Whitney.  She's been away from us for a little while due to a knee injury but she made a brief return this week and part of last week to prevent stir-craziness and because we all missed her and bugged her to come visit.  She is going in for surgery to fix everything up all nice so she can walk and run and frolic with us again.  So If you see her this week please be sure to share your well wishes with her and for a speedy recovery and I'm sure that she will share her beautiful smile with you in return.

Everybody complains about the weather...

but no one ever does anything about it! Something my sister says whenever there's an unpleasant climatic event. Never really was sure what it means. And listen, obviously we all know it's real hot. It's on the early side of the morning as I write this, and it's already 112 degrees. (I don't think I'm exaggerating, but I just walked the dogs and man, it is repugnant outside.)

 Whenever it gets this hot, I have to fight the urge to plant my face into a pan of gelato. Seems like the Thai Coconut Milk would probably be the most refreshing--and great for your skin--but I wouldn't bet against Champagne Mango. All in all, I promise I won't smash my face into the gelato, though. Well. I mean, I won't smash my face into YOUR gelato.

 So do come in. Usually I advocate strolling with your gelato, but these days I'm going to counsel that you stay in our air conditioning for a bit. Have some water. Chill for a bit, in other words. It seriously is just stupid hot out, and I think we should all just keep things on the mellow side.

 

Happy Independence Day!

Also, FIGS are here! We know you will all be sunburned and maybe hungover tomorrow, but you should really come by and check out our black fig sorbetto. In addition, come snack on some Lemon Opal Basil sorbetto and Lavender gelato. Zounds!

July 4th

It's almost here....or well since this is Philly it's been here since the start of this past weekend.  My roommate put together a BBQ on Saturday that turned into a 2 day event after we realized how much food everyone brought.  Someone cooked a 5lb bag of rice so now it looks like we will be having Spanish rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next week. 

I think tomorrow after work I'll be heading home and relaxing on the back deck and watching the fireworks from there.  Fireworks are everyone's favorite part of July 4th and in South Philly they are EVERYWHERE!  I don't need to wade through the crowd to get a good show.  If you are brave enough there is always the Art Museum Firework show just make sure you take a cooler and stake out a spot extra early because it is an absolute madhouse out there each year.

Please everyone have loads of fun whether you are staying in the city, heading to the burbs, or taking it to the beach.  And above all be careful and responsible. 

Happy Independence Day!!